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Sunday, 1 February 2009

“Don’t play with fire and challenge the Muslims.We are willing to do anything to protect our religion.”- Zahid Hamidi

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Lately, I had a discussion with a casual acquaintance (who I later learnt, was an Ustaz who teaches tafsir Al-Qur'an) .... Just in case "someone" decides to ask, sorry- I don't recollect his name.I asked him if Muslims actually understood what they read, when they learned to read & recited the Qur'an. His very frank reply actually took me by surprise - he claimed that many actually "fear to understand the words they read, lest they misinterpret & and are damned for it". So, to "solve the problem", they apparently leave it to the ulama to do the job of interpreting/ understanding it - and very few actually bother to read translations!!!This sounds exactly like what RPK said some time back, when he wrote quite a bit about "muslim" behavioural patterns in Malaysia - but of course, it was often regarded as "insulting Islam" by the likes of many an Umno warlord ...

Now - Zahid claims that the Christians have been "challenging" the Muslims!!Isn't this the most ignorant thing to come out of one who claims to be a leader? That too, one that claims to be doing it to "defend" Islam!!

Zahid can shove his "fire" up where the sun don't shine, for all I care - it may provide some enlightenment, presuming that it's where his grey matter resides ....

While many of those of other religions know quite a bit about Islam and make efforts to learn more about Islam, its philosophy, culture & mores, how much has the UMNO?BN government done to learn & understand about other religions & their history?As far as I know, they've done little or none - and it is this ignorance that we see people like Hamid Albar & Zahid Hamidi shamelessly advertizing with such boldness!! It is people like these that give a very bad image for Islam & Muslims in general.

As far as I know even the Prophet Mohamed (pbuh) said that "people of the book" worship ALLAH! (Correct me if I'm wrong).It appears that Umno disputes this fact!!

How come BN hypocrites/munafiqs are making pronouncements on this issue?Isn't it "SUB-JUDICE" to do so?They were so good at not commenting on other issues becos it was "sub-judice" - why is it okay now?Shouldn't they be reprimanded by the courts?

BN is so hard up for some conflict in Malaysia that they stir up religious sentiments out of nothing.They just wanna show that they are the so-called "defenders of Islam".They want to suspend Parliament a la 513, and impose emergency. The corrupt aristocrats of Umno are unable to change their ways, and seek to perpetuate their plunder by taking away rights, & imposing greater control over the people.

The houses of worship are the last bastions of freedom for the people - Umno has succesfully trampled on every other institution and have managed to control & corrupt them!

Rest assured, BN - if you insist on provoking Sikhs & Christians with this Allah issue, they will be campaigning hard against you (along with all other regardless of race & religion in PAS, DAP & PKR) till the next GE, and till UMNO is dead & gone!!Not that they wouldn't otherwise - but at least there will be room to doubt that this will occur, if they refrain from their politics of racism, religious bigotry, fear & intimidation.

As much as I'd like to, maybe I shouldn't say what the Holy Qur'an says about this - lest I offend some people like Hamid or Zahid. So,Below is an article on this issue, which was written under the supervision of Sheikh Salman B. Fahd Al-Qadah

The name "Allah" is the Arabic word that refers to the one true God who created the heavens and the Earth – the God of all the Prophets from Adam to Noah to Abraham to Moses to Jesus to Muhammad (peace be upon them all).

The word Allah comes from the Arabic word “ilâh” meaning “deity, god, divine being” combined with the definite article “al”. Put together, they make “al-Ilâh” or literally “the God” which is then elided together as “Allah”.

Essentially, "Allah" is the literal Arabic equivalent to the English word "God" with a capital "G" while the Arabic word "ilâh" is the literal equivalent of the English word "god" with a lower-case "g".

The Qur'ân uses the name Allah consistently when referring to the message of all of the prophets and to the various beliefs of all of the people.

Even when the Qur'ân quotes people of other religions saying false things about the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth, the word Allah is used.

We have, for example, where certain Jews are quoted as saying: "And the Jews say: 'The hand of Allah is tied up!' Their hands shall be shackled, and may they be cursed for what they say. Nay, both His hands are spread out, He bestows as He pleases." [Sûrah al-Mâ'idah: 64]

We have the Christian doctrine of the trinity conveyed in the following verse: "They surely disbelieve who say: 'Lo! Allah is the third of three' when there is no god but the One Allah. If they desist not from so saying a painful doom will fall on those of them who disbelieve." [Sûrah al-Mâ'idah: 73]

We also have in the Qur'ân: "And the Jews say: 'Ezra is the son of Allah', and the Christians say: 'The Messiah is the son of Allah'." [Sûrah al-Tawbah: 30]

These verses are in Arabic and use the Arabic name Allah. The fact that the Qur'ân does not shy away from using this word even when it speaks about the falsehood of the people of unbelief shows that the name "Allah" is truly universal, and can be used by anyone to refer to the true Creator of the heavens and the Earth.

The Prophet (peace be upon him) always referred to God as Allah when he discussed the beliefs of the Jews and Christians with him. They did so as well.

We have the challenge between the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) to the Christians of Najran about their false belief in the divinity of Christ. The Arabs of Najran were Arab and were certainly speaking Arabic.

We read in the Qur'ân where Allah commands His Messenger: “If any one disputes in this matter with thee, now after (full) knowledge hath come to thee, Say: Come! Let us gather together, our sons and your sons, our women and your women, ourselves and yourselves: then let us earnestly pray. And invoke the curse of Allah on those who lie.” [Sûrah Âl-`Imrân: 61]

The people of Arabia all referred to the Creator of the heavens and the Earth as "Allah", whether they were Jews, Christians, or pagans. This is the reason why, in pre-Islamic times, many people of all three faiths already carried the name `Abd Allah.

They included the Prophet's father `Abd Allah b. `Abd al-Muttalib who died before the Prophet (peace be upon him) was born, as well as the Prophet's cousin `Abd Allah b. Abî Umayyah who only accepted Islam shortly before the conquest of Mecca.

They included the prominent Jewish rabbi of Madinah, `Abd Allah b. Salâm, who became one of the most eminent of the Prophet's Companions. Of course, he had been given the name `Abd Allah by his Jewish family long before Islam.

The measures that have recently been taken in some countries to bar non-Muslims from referring to God as "Allah" in their religious publications are quite unfortunate. The publications is question are ones written in languages where the name used for the Creator of the heavens and the Earth is the name "Allah".

The purpose behind these restrictive measures is the fear that those publications will confuse Muslims who speak those languages and who might read those publications. Be that as it may, the confusion on a global scale which is being caused by the restriction is far worse.

Islamic workers who try convey the message of Islam to Jews and Christians have been struggling against the widely held belief idea that the god of the Muslims is some exotic deity other than the one who sent Abraham, Moses, and Jesus (peace be upon them all). It has been a long and uphill effort. These recent measures in some countries to ban non-Muslims form using the name Allah have resulted in confirming and entrenching those false suspicions among non-Muslims.

It is the duty of Muslims today to redouble their efforts to teach the people of the world that there is only one true God who created the heavens and the Earth; that all of the prophets and messengers were sent by Him with the same essential teaching: to worship the Creator alone and not set up partners with Him; that Allah is the God of Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus– and Muhammad (peace be upon them all).